Have you heard? There’s a spiritual movement afoot in America, and it is lead by the chosen one, the goddess divine, the picker of presidents – Madame Oprah Winfrey. But before you groan and turn away, I urge you to consider the latest project infused with Oprah’s superpower support. It is called The Blue Zones, and it makes good sense. The Blue Zones is the study of areas around the world that have the highest number of centenarians. The people in these areas all share certain lifestyle elements. Mostly importantly, they eat locally. And they eat green.
In 2005, Dr. Luis Rosero-Bixby presented a paper at an international conference claiming that some Costa Ricans have the longest life expectancy of anyone in the world. This was scandalous to some. How could “The Third World” (cue dramatic music: dun dun DUN!) have such a high number of healthy elderly? Scientist Dan Buettner, funded by National Geographic, decided to investigate. Buettner has since revealed why many of his subjects have avoided the diseases of old age that pick the rest of us off like flies. And it is not just Costa Ricans. Locations like Sardinia, Italy, Okinawa, Japan, and Loma Linda, California, also have a high rate of healthy 100 year olds.
So what do these areas have in common? First of all, the people who live in them all promote sustainable living. They load up on local vegetables and plant proteins. The preparation of Blue Zoners’ food also adds to their longevity. The reasoning is this: if you are involved in the planting, harvesting, and preparation of your meals, you are more likely to get a good amount of exercise at an older age. Apparently, sustained, mindless motion such as hoeing is good for the body. My own grandmother constantly crocheted – and she lived to be 91.
Great, so there are places in the world where you can live to be 100. What happens if you don’t live there? Well, you can live life as if you do. Dan Buettner has broken down the rest of the Blue Zones’ shared traits into nine different behaviors. Among others, the behaviors include knowing your purpose in life, making your family a priority, creating a healthy social network, and calming down.
And finally, you can go to www.bluezones.com, answer some questions, and see how you can diffuse the ticking time bomb that is your life. You enter your gender, age, height, weight, and information about your diet and lifestyle. You know, you answer the kind of questions where you start off smug. Then you realize there actually are people out there who eat 4-6 daily servings of whole grains and vegetables AND fruits. Suddenly, your 1-2 servings of vegetables looks pathetic.
Once your information is entered, you get your results. My report had my “biological” age at five years younger than my “chronological” age. (Score whole grains!) I will also live to be 94 years old (rock on!), but will only be disease-free until age 79.9. (Bummer.)
But the good news is that I could add on 3.5 years to my life if I get Blue Zoney. For instance, I could be more spiritual. And in the end, that might not be the worst thing. After all, if it works for Oprah, it can work for her minion. Which may be me. Or it may not be me. I’ll never tell!
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